“Welcome,” the pretty boy said as he stood and opened his arms. He made a sweeping gesture toward the other chaise lounges and then a tray of steaming mugs that sat waiting on one of the tables. “Please sit and refresh yourselves. There are cloths to dry your feet and mulled wine to warm your bodies.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I don't mean to be rude, but who are you and what is this place?”
“My name is Narcissus, and I'm sorry to tell you that you've been pulled into my mirror... my curse.”
I sat heavily on one of the chaises.
“I thought you were dead,” the Wolf said in a curious tone. “Fell into a pool and drowned.”
“Yes, I've heard the myth.” Narcissus grimaced as if he'd heard it often enough to be annoyed by it. “It's false. The Goddess Nemesis created a magnificent mirror and then cursed it. When I admired myself in it, I touched the glass and was pulled inside. I've been here ever since.”
“Nemesis?” I asked in surprise and then looked at Kirill and the Wolf. “How the hell did that mirror end up in a human auction?”
Narcissus cocked his head at me. “Why did you make the distinction of human?” His gaze narrowed. “Are you Gods?”
I had a quick moment of deja vu. When I'd first met Thor, he'd asked me that very same question. Except my answer had changed since then.
“Yes,” I said. “I'm sorry; I was shocked or I would have introduced us sooner. I'm Vervain, Goddess of Love, Lions, and the Moon. These are my husbands, Trevor, God of Night Creatures, and Kirill, Ganza of the Intare.”
Yes, Trevor is a god now. We had finally completed the Froekn Binding ritual, and I had given him a piece of my moon magic. It seemed appropriate for a werewolf to have the Dark Dominion; command over nocturnal creatures. The magic bumped him up from demigod to full god.
“Gods,” Narcissus whispered as he fell back onto his seat. “Holy shit. How did you fall into the Mirror?”
“We were pulled in,” I said. “Or compelled to walk in, rather. Narcissus, I get that you're trapped here, but do you have any idea how we might get out?”
“I was going to ask you the same question,” he huffed mirthlessly. “I've never had Gods wander in before. Don't you know a way to wander out again?”
“There must be a way,” I said determinedly. “But no, I don't know it yet.”
“You said you'd never had Gods wander in before,” the Wolf narrowed his stare at Narcissus. “But you've had humans?”
“Yes, they get drawn into the Mirror. Its compulsion is very strong.” Narcissus grimaced. “It's rather ironic when you think about it. Nemesis created the Mirror to punish me for being so vain and self-centered that I caused humans to kill themselves. Now, her mirror is killing them.”
“How does the Mirror kill them?” I asked.
“This isn't a realm that supports life. It's only a reflection of life.” Narcissus waved his hand at the mugs of wine. “The food and drink can't sustain you. They taste good and fill the belly, but they have no nutrition in them.”
“So, humans starve,” I whispered.
He nodded sadly. “I try to make them as comfortable as possible while they're here; make the most of the days they have before they weaken. I admit that it's not simply kindness; they're the only break in the monotony of my life. My immortality sustains me but sometimes I wish that I could just die.”
“I'm so sorry,” I said softly.
“Thank you.” His cool, blue eyes warmed. “It's nice to have visitors who I know will survive.”
“Not only will we survive, but we're also going to help you escape,” I said.
“If ve can find vay out.” Kirill gave me a heavy look.
“We have to,” I said simply. “So, we will.”
“Then I bless the day you three walked into my mirror!” Narcissus declared. He lifted his mug to us and then drank deeply.
Kirill, the Wolf, and I left our mugs alone and traded grim looks. We still didn't know enough about this place to drink the wine yet. I wasn't about to pull a Persephone and get stuck in Narcissus' mirror just because I had a craving for a hot, tasty beverage.
Chapter Six
“Perhaps we should start with the curse,” I said. “Do you remember any of it?”
Narcissus frowned. “It was a very long time ago. Nemesis caught me asleep in the forest; I woke up to her chanting and then I felt the shiver of magic filling me. Suddenly, she was gone and in her place was this magnificent mirror. It was carved with the flowers humans had named after me.”
“The same mirror we were pulled through,” the Wolf said.
“Yes, I assumed so,” Narcissus agreed. “I should have known better to approach it, but I went forward anyway, and I touched the glass. Then I woke here, in a forest that was nearly identical to the one I'd been sleeping in. At first, I didn't realize that I was in the Mirror. I assumed that I'd fallen asleep again. Everything looked the same. It wasn't until I tried to go home that the differences became apparent.”
“There was no one there,” I concluded.
“I lived here.” He nodded as he spread out his arms. “Except my palace wasn't nearly as grand as this one, and there wasn't a lake. I made some adjustments over the years.”
“You adjusted Mirror?” Kirill asked in surprise.
“As if it's your territory,” I mused.
“Yes. It took me years to figure it out,” Narcissus went on. “I believe that when Nemesis bound me to the Mirror, she inadvertently linked us. I can affect this place; alter it with my will. Ironically, the curse sustains me. I should have perished centuries ago without ambrosia to revive my immortality, but here I am.”
“She had to link you to an enchanted mirror in order to imprison you,” I said pensively. “The very magic she used to contain
